


Withdrawl

by Scarlet_Sea



Category: Miraculous Ladybug
Genre: Alya deserves character depth, Canon add-one, DJWifi, F/M, One-Shot, Saptois, and lasting development, and nino needs some actual screen time, minor Adrinette wingmanning
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-08-01
Updated: 2018-08-01
Packaged: 2019-06-20 00:26:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings, No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,672
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/15522051
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Scarlet_Sea/pseuds/Scarlet_Sea
Summary: "She took a deep breath, remembering the cool air swirling past her with each step- She crossed her arms, letting her nails dig into her skin.Distraction.Alya needed a distraction."A forgotten moment taken place right after the events of Sapotis.





	Withdrawl

**Author's Note:**

> I feel like Sapotis could have focused on Alya more . So I tried to write something that could have been canon and threw in some well deserved djwifi fluff. Enjoy!

Alya couldn’t sleep.

She tossed and turned on the couch watching the street lights slid across the floor. Occasionally a car would pass by, its headlights making the shadows dance around the room. Alya huffed, ripping her covers off  as she sat up, reaching for her glasses by the coffee table.

She blinked, adjusting her frames when a snore suddenly broke through the silence, Alya's head swerving towards the sound.

Marinette laid sprawled on the floor, right where she'd left her hours ago. The girl’s blankets kicked off and crumbled to the side.

Alya smiled at the sight but the moment didn’t last, her stomach quickly turned as her mind drifted, gaze moving towards the windows. Something cold and heavy settled in her chest, her eyes landing on the rooftops.

She'd been _there_ , running along the ledges- feeling as though she was flying-

Alya took a deep breath, remembering the cool air swirling past her with each step- She crossed her arms, letting her nails dig into her skin.

 

Distraction.

 

Alya needed a distraction.

 

She turned back to Marinette and frowned- No. She'd see right through her, no doubt about it- then it was game over Rena Rouge. She couldn't risk it, besides...

Another loud snore erupted from Marinette.

She wasn't waking _that_  up.

Alya instinctively reached for her phone, patting the couch until she found her prize. Playing some game or surfing the web would get her mind off things- hopefully she'd drift off aimlessly scrolling.

She swiftly unlocked her phone, hissing at the screens light, fumbling with the brightness setting. Squinting, she made a reflex swipe for her home screen until she stopped short, staring at the chat still open.

….

She bite her lip, scanning over the last convo. It was hours ago, a stupid picture of a dog she sent stared up at her along with his reply; an unnecessary thread of exclamation marks.

 

She shouldn’t- He was probably asleep.

 ......

The phone was ringing before Alya could registered what she'd done.

 

The line clicked, a raspy voice answering. “Hello?”

 

Alya’s heart catapulted into her throat. “Hey Nino," She whispered, leaning into the couch, a faint buzz spreading along her chest.she promptly ignored it. "What’s up?”

“Uhm, nothing much.” Nino answered unsure, his voice still rough from sleep; the sound doing inappropriate things to her pulse.

Shuffling sheets took over the receiver, Alya imagined him sitting up. “Are you okay? He went on. ”Is there an akuma attack?“

Her stomach spiraled, the emptiness in her gut growing. ”I’m fine. Just-” she paused, loosely wrapping the blanket around her. “-Had a weird dream." She winced at the lie. "I didn't want to wake Mari.”

“You woke me up.”

Alya rolled her eyes, her lips curling upwards “That’s different. I don’t mind annoying you.”

He pouted. "Mean."

Alya chuckled, bringing her knees up. He could play the 'offended' card all he wanted but he'd never hang up on her. Even at 2 am he was still Nino.

Movement to her right caused her to jump. Marinette shifting positions and going full eagle as she drooled.

Alya snorted, collecting the blanket in her arms. "One sec Nino." She said before squishing the phone between her ear and shoulder. She scooped up the sheets and hopped off the couch, carefully tiptoeing past her best friend and towards her own room.

'You still there?" She whispered, closing the door behind her, grimacing as it creaked.

"Still here." He replied as she settled into her computer chair, doing a quick spin around.

"What was so weird about your dream?" 

She shrugged, pulling the blanket closer. " I don't know.." Another lie. She sighed- It was too late to back out now. "It started out great but when I woke up-" She placed a hand on her stomach, "I felt bad."

Nino hummed slightly, "And you don't remember anything. Just the feeling?"

Alya chewed her lip. How much could she say? To much would make it obvious but-

"Mostly and some pieces."

Nino hummed again and Alya heard movement. What sounded like metal and patted footsteps filled Alya's ear

She furrowed her eyebrows, “Ew, I swear if you're going the bathroom while on the phone I'm hanging up."

Nino snorted. “Chill Al, I’m just heading out to the balcony. Chris's room is right next to mine. The little guy's sensitive to sound."

On cue she heard metal sliding again, Nino likely pushing it closed behind him. “ Crap, ” he muttered “Remind me sometime to trim the plants out here.”

Alya snickered “I didn’t take you as a gardener.”

“It builds character.” He stated defensively.“My parents gave them to me when we first moved in. Said it'll teach me responsibility, guess the hobby stuck.”

The image of Nino in garden gloves and a flowery apron filled her mind, her grin only growing as the scenario grew to him trimming leaves and handing out tulips-She pulled her knees to her chest, snuggling into them-She  wouldn't mind getting flowers from Nino..

“So DJ extraordinary, amateur film maker and a now a plant fanatic. You're the total package Lahiffe.” She teased, laughing when he grumbled something under his breath. He was too easy.

"Haha- Very funny. You know it's harder then it looks.

Alya rolled her eyes, a fond smile slowly taking over her features. “Whatever, I’ll take your word for it flower boy."

"Ack- " He grunted, sounding disgusted. "That was awful, You can do better than that Al."

"Give me a break, it's like 2 in the morning."

"Yeah and we should be sleeping.” He said, voice going soft. The shift in tone catching Alya off guard. "So this feeling, it won't go away?"

She blinked, suddenly feeling exposed. " Uh-Yeah. It's like..." She slouched inward “there’s a hole-.” Alya paused, cringing at how stupid that sounded. “God this is so dumb." She grumbled.

“Hey feelings are weird. I get that.” Nino reassured her. “Dreams are even crazier so it makes sense to be messed after an intense one.”

"I guess." Alya slouched further into herself, letting a comfortable silence fall between them. For a moment she stared out her window, finding the moon hanging just above a light post.

“If you're lucky you’ll get those continuation dreams.” Nino mused.

Alya eyebrows wrinkled,"I don’t know..” She started wearily. Ladybug hadn't seemed keen on recruiting her anytime soon, if so she would have let her keep Trixx. Alya frowned, was she going to be stuck as back up forever. A one hit wonder every decade or so.

She shook her head, tighten her grip on the phone. “I don’t get those kind of dreams." She added quickly, playing along. ”Do people normally get them?“

She could imagine Nino shrugging ”I don’t know. I get similar dreams every so often-Not exact continuations though. “

”That would be nice.“ Alya exhaled. Another chance to prove herself, huh. Feeling the wind in her hair as she jumped from roof to roof. She pulled her covers closer, exhaling. She could helping save the day, beat baddies for a living, becoming a-

”That must have been some dream.“

Her thoughts came to a halt, ”What.“

”You're sighing Alya. It's all dreamy and junk." He chuckled. "What’d you do? Find out Ladybugs identity. Gear up and save the world?"

Silence plunged down on them. Her mind coming up empty.

Witty- she needed to say something witty. Brush it off with a sarcastic remark, a laugh- Anything!

"Alya?"

Her brain tried to reboot. " I-Um.Well-"

 

Crap

 

"Oh wow." She could practically hear the smile stretch onto his face.

She was going to smack him.

"You dreamed you were a superhero!"

”I did not!“ She finally squeaked, standing up from her chair. It skidding back at the sudden movement.

”That’s your 'busted' voice. You totally did!“

”Nino!“

She was finished, one day as a superhero and her secret identity was already ruined.

His laugh still rang over the line ”Alya it’s okay, no wonder you re so worked up about this. That’s _literally_ your dream.“ He paused catching his breath. ”That must have been amazing for you.“

Alya bit her lip. beginning to pace. "I guess."

"So what'd you do? Save the world from some doomsday device or did you dream up an akuma." Nino said, his tone teasing.

"Like I said, bits and pieces." She muttered, proceeding with caution. The 'it was all a dream' scenario was becoming undone. She had to restrain herself, play it cool. One slip up and she was done.

 

She could do this.

 

”It was amazing Nino!“

 

Nope. She couldn't.

 

But Alya couldn't bring herself to care, grinning as she gestured around wildly. ”Everything was moving so fast, I could jump over a building in a single leap, beat up bad guys like it was nothing.“ She exclaimed.

The knot in her stomach began to unwind as she spoke, feeling light when Nino's laugh joined hers. "That sounds straight out of a comic book." He said, chuckling.

"It was." Alya confirmed, fighting down her own smile. ”God, you should have been there Nino.“ She blenched, silently cursing. "I mean- you couldn't, obviously. But I wish you could."

Nino snorted.“If they ever invent something to dream hop I'll be there."

Alya laughed nervously. "Right- well it would have been cool.” She finished. "You could have be my sidekick or something."

"Pass."

"Rude!"

Nino laughed a little too hard at her quip. Maybe it was because of his sleepy state but Alya didn't care, she liked the sound of it.

"I don't think I'm cut out for hero work." Nino finished, a grin evident in his voice. "No offence to your dream hero persona."

Alya kicked a stray sock on the floor. "Why not."

"Don't know." He said, Alya imagining him shrugging as he pondered for a moment. "I feel like I'm more of a helper- if that makes sense."

"That's a sidekick Nino." She grinned. Honestly, this boy.

"Not in a 'superhero' way Al." He whined. "But in a 'normal person' way."

Alya raised an eyebrow. tapping her chin in thought. "I see. So you're the damsel in distress meant for emotional support."

"Now you're just making fun of me."

Alya looked up at her ceiling, a smirk tugging at her lips. "I can see it now, you're up in a tower waiting to be rescued. You're looking dapper in one of those Moroccan robe things you talked about. "

"A thobe?- Wait, no, I'm not helping you imagine this."

"Too late. You'd look good in white you know." She grinned.

A huff from his end indicated his fluster and Alya couldn't help but bark out a laugh, the last knot in her stomach untangling as the emptiness within her was replaced with warmth.

 

************

 

Alya wasn't sure how the conversation diverged from there. One second they were talking about heroes, then school, things took a weird turn into the meaning of colours, then aquatic animals. Anything and everything that came to mind was spoken. She'd somehow ended up laying on her bed, sinking into the softness of her mattress, the phone pressed lazily to her ear. It felt surreal, with the house still and their hushed whispers playing as a backdrop to the creaks of the home. It was different from the silence that had clinged to her before, filling her head with 'what ifs'.

A yawn interrupted their conversation, Nino's words strained as he tried to recover. "Augh-sorry." He said, stifling another one.

Alya snorted, pushing herself up on one elbow. " Too weak for an all nighter, huh Lahiffe."

"Whatever." He muttered, sounding as if he was stretching. "Besides, we just got back from a wedding out of town. So I'm tired from that."

"Excuses." Alya tutted, peering over her shoulder at her night stand. The clock illuminating in the dark. They've been talking for nearly 2 hours so that would mean.. "When did you get home." She continued, sitting up in attention. "It sounded like you were asleep when I called."

"Umm like 12:30ish." He guessed, his voice wavering for a second. "I slept for maybe an hour before you chimed in."

"So you were gone the whole evening?"

"Yup, we had to leave earlier to help set up."

She nodded, considering his statement. There was no way he'd seen Rena Rouge then. Alya hadn't document anything and from what she knew there was no footage of her yet.

 

He had no clue.

 

Alya wasn't sure if she was relieved or disappointed…

 

Nino yawned again, unable to fight it this time.

"It's late." She said, smiling a little at the gesture. "and I got to take the twins to the water park tomorrow."

"Who's weak now." Nino muttered, the smirk in his tone obvious even in his tired state.

"Oh shush." She flopped back down on her bed, eyeing the shadows on her ceiling. "You know how the twins are. I'm going to need the rest."

 "It's that new one in the suburbs, right?" Nino asked, sighing . "Chris has been raving about that since the commercials popped up. Let me know if it's any good."

 

Something sparked within Alya. Impulse taking over her mouth and sprouting words without her consent. “You should come."

 

Before Nino could answer she leapt again, literally and figuratively.

 

“I mean-You and Chris should come.” She spewed, backtracking. "Since he's all excited about it and stuff."

"Okay?“ Nino said, sounding a bit confused. ”Sounds like fun and I don't think we have anything else planned.“ He finished, Alya hearing the smile in his voice.

"Cool.” She breathed, coaching down her own grin. Jeez, what was with her tonight.

"Should I ask Adrien if he wants in?"

"Oh Marinette would kill us if he showed up." She paused, laying back down. "Do it."

"Unbelievable." He said, laughing softly. "I'll text him in the morning and let you know."

"Sounds good." She tucked a strand of hair behind her ear as she held the phone tenderly. "We're planning on being by the school metro at 11:30."

"I'll be sure to set my alarm then. Text me when you leave, okay."

"Okay." She confirmed, nodding.  "Alright, we got a plan and I'm sure Marinette won't mind, even if Adrien comes." It was her turn to sniffling a yawn, the gesture sneaking up on her; "I think all that's left is to go to bed."

Nino hummed."Seems like it". Metal sliding caught Alya's attention, Nino no doubt going back inside. "Night Al. I'll talk to you soon."

“Yeah.” She smiled, pulling the phone closer. Her voice barely above a whisper “And thanks.. for everything.”

He chuckled, “Anytime Alya.” He said in a hushed tone. “Good night. I'll see you tomorrow Superlady.”

Alya rolled her eyes at the nickname. “And you made fun of me for flower boy.”

“That was worse and you know it.”

“Yeah yeah, goodnight dork.” She pulled the phone away, hearing his finally goodbye before ending the call with a soft click.

She sat there for a moment holding her phone as the screen went dark. The warm feeling returning and blossoming in her chest.

Alya grabbed her blanket dragging it back to the living room and reclaiming her spot on the couch, carefully stepping over her sleeping friend. It took her awhile to let go of her phone, gingerly placing it by the table followed by her glasses.

Her mind drifted, sinking into the cushions. Alya mentally going over their plans once more, making a list of what needed to be packed and arranged.

 

_Backpack. Water bottle. Swimwear.Towels.._

 

_Flip flops..Sunscreen..Charger..._

 

_..._

 

Her eyes drooped. A scene forming in her minds eye as the list faded. She was leaping across the city, the scenario repeating over and over until she suddenly something from the corner of her consciousness caught her attention.

 

_Phone..._

 

_Nino._

She swooped down, scooping up an endangered civilian in her arms. Her smile grew, imaging the starstruck expression of a certain DJ as she jumped off with him into the night sky.

**Author's Note:**

> Thank you for reading!


End file.
